Dana Awartani’s art of remembrance in Venice

Welcome to AL-MONITOR Riyadh.

This week, the Gulf’s art world is gathering in Venice for the opening of the 61st International Art Exhibition. Saudi Arabia is marking its fifth participation with a poignant artwork by Saudi Palestinian artist Dana Awartani that reflects the importance of cultural preservation and heritage, especially during times of conflict. Elsewhere, we highlight the participation of several Saudi artists in a group exhibition on Gulf Futurism in Doha, Misk Art Institute’s ongoing collaboration with the MAXXI Museum in Rome and a new French-Asian restaurant in Jeddah.

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Happy reading,

Rebecca

P.S. Have feedback or tips on Riyadh's culture scene? Send them my way at contactus@al-monitor.com.

1. Leading the week: Dana Awartani at the Biennale Arte 2026

Dana Awartani, “May Your Tears Never Dry, You Who Weep Over Stones.” (Photo courtesy of the artist and the Visual Arts Commission, Commissioner of the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia)

Dana Awartani’s poignant artwork “May Your Tears Never Dry, You Who Weep Over Stones,” was unveiled this week at the 61st International Art Exhibition at the Saudi Pavilion in Venice, marking the kingdom’s fifth participation in the Biennale Arte and the fourth time a female artist has represented the nation.

Awartani’s most ambitious work to date reflects the vulnerability of cultural heritage, particularly in the Arab world. The large, floor-based installation invites visitors to experience a reimagined archaeological site composed of mosaics representing places of historical and material significance, many of which have been devastated by conflict. Curated by Antonia Carver, with assistant curator Hafsa Alkhudairi, the work builds on Awartani’s practice of using geometric forms rooted in traditional Islamic art.

“The work is very much a kind of resistance against erasure and a protest against forgetting,” Carver told Al-Monitor.

Drawing on ancient mosaic traditions from across the Arab world and the Mediterranean, the installation was created in collaboration with 32 Saudi-based master artisans, many from the Arab world and South Asia. It incorporates  more than 29,000 handmade sunbaked clay bricks, produced over the course of more than 30,000 hours.

“The work reflects our collective history,” Awartani told Al-Monitor. “I want people to walk away with empathy and awareness, especially regarding the extent of the cultural damage that has been done in Gaza and Lebanon, even as we speak.”

The highly detailed geometric, floral and faunal tile designs reference traditions from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, whose shared motifs and patterns highlight cultural continuities spanning three millennia.

Date: May 9 - Nov. 22

Location: Arsenale, Venice, Italy

Find more information here.

2. Word on the street: Maritime at The Jeddah Edition

A plate of juicy shrimp dumplings at Maritime at The Jeddah Edition. (The Jeddah Edition)

Craving French-Asian cuisine? If you’re in Jeddah, Maritime is a top choice. This upscale restaurant at The Jeddah Edition, which opened in May 2024, is helmed by chef Cedric Vongerichten, one of Zagat’s “30 Under 30” rising chefs, who has honed his craft in some of the world’s most celebrated kitchens, including Spain's three-Michelin-starred El Bulli. The menu showcases contemporary French-Asian cuisine inspired by maritime exploration. Highlights include local sea bass with tomato, shrimp dumplings with lemongrass beurre blanc and crispy spring rolls. 

Location: The Jeddah Edition, 7044 Al Kurnaysh Br Road, Ash Shati, Jeddah

Find more information here.

3. Riyadh diary

Nasser Al Salem's "Arabi Gharb," 2016. (Nasser Al Salem)

• Saudi Artists participate in “What’s between, between?” in Doha

Several artists from Saudi Arabia are participating in "What’s between, between?," an exhibition curated by Jack Thomas Taylor, curator of art, media and technology, and Amal Zeyad Ali, assistant curator at Doha's Media Majlis Museum. On view are works that prompt audiences to examine the meanings of “Gulf Futurism,” a term coined by Qatari artist Sophia Al-Maria that reflects the histories, futures and dreams of the Gulf region amid a landscape rapidly reshaped by constant development. Through loaned works, new commissions and digital media, the exhibition explores tensions between tradition and hypermodernity, heritage and innovation. Included are works by Saudi artists Ahaad Alamoudi, Khaled bin Afif, Manal AlDowayan, Zahrah Al Ghamdi, Faisal Saeed Al Zahrani and Saudi-Palestinian artist Ayman Yossri Daydban. 

Date: Until May 14, 2026

Location: Media Majlis Museum at Northwestern University in Doha, Qatar

Find more information here.

• MAXXI internship opens for Saudi architects, designers 

Saudi Arabia’s Misk Art Institute, a subsidiary of the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation, is offering a two-month internship for Saudi architects and interior designers at Rome’s MAXXI Museum, where participants will work within the museum’s curatorial office. Apply by Aug. 15.

The internship is part of Misk’s ongoing collaboration with MAXXI since 2025, focused on fostering knowledge exchange, specialized training and integrating Saudi professionals into the international art scene and global museum sector.

Date: Oct. 5 to Dec. 18

Location: MAXXI Museum, Rome, Italy

Find more information here.

• "Global Positioning System" at Hayy Jameel

A major two-part group exhibition exploring the systems that shape how we navigate contemporary life will open May 20 in Jeddah at Hayy Jameel, following its debut at Jameel Arts Center in Dubai. The show brings together more than 40 artists from over 20 countries whose works engage with contested geographies and narratives of transport, trade, speed and culture, while reflecting on the limits and challenges of modern mobility. 

Date: May 20 to Oct. 17

Location: Hayy Jameel, Jeddah 

Find more information here. 

4. Book of the week

Vital reading for anyone interested in the history of Saudi Arabia and Western perspectives on the Middle East, this book by Abdullah F. Alrebh offers an in-depth analysis of authority structures in Saudi Arabia and their evolution across the 20th century, as portrayed by two leading Western newspapers: The Times of London and The New York Times. The book charts key historical events in the Gulf and examines how conceptions of authority in the Middle East have been presented to Western audiences, shedding light on the political agendas of media in the United Kingdom and the United States. 

5. View from Riyadh

Some of the 32 Saudi-based master artisans, many from the Arab world and South Asia, created Awartani’s work “May Your Tears Never Dry, You Who Weep Over Stones” for her exhibition at Biennale Arte 2026. (Photo courtesy of the artist and the Visual Arts Commission, Commissioner of the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia)

6. By the numbers

• This year marks Saudi Arabia’s fifth participation in its permanent national pavilion in the Arsenale at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. 
• Saudi Arabia first participated in the Venice Biennale in 2011 with ‘The Black Arch," an installation by artists Shadia and Raja Alem, at the 54th International Art Exhibition. It later established its first official national pavilion in the Arsenale in 2018 during the 16th International Architecture Exhibition.